


Years Enough

by Wolf_of_Lilacs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst, Past Relationships, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:27:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22571005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolf_of_Lilacs/pseuds/Wolf_of_Lilacs
Summary: They first met after the war at Harry's Order of Merlin ceremony.
Relationships: Minerva McGonagall/Andromeda Black Tonks
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Femflash February 2020





	Years Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LamiaCalls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LamiaCalls/gifts).



They first met after the war at Harry's Order of Merlin ceremony. Minerva had heard he had attempted to convince the committee it wasn't his victory, and that it should be shared between him and Ron and Hermione at the very least, and oh could Severus Snape have one posthumously? He was roundly ignored. She could see him quite well from where she stood in the middle of the hall, looking as if he would rather be anywhere else. She waved. He waved back, then turned sharply to look at something to her right, his expression brightening.

Minerva turned to see what he was looking at, and found Andromeda Tonks standing at her shoulder, cradling a chubby baby with bright turquoise hair. "Hello," Minerva said.

"It's been a long time, professor." Andromeda winked.

"Oh, please. I haven't been your teacher in a quarter century."

"Minerva, then." Andromeda grinned and settled the baby in the carrier spelled at her back. He sucked his thumb and played with her long, chestnut hair.

"How have you been?" Minerva asked. The question felt rather trite under the circumstances.

Andromeda sighed. "It's strange with just me and Teddy," she admitted, wistful. "Too quiet."

"Come over for tea sometime," Minerva said. "I'd be glad to have you."

Andromeda gave her a half-smile. She looked so much older than Minerva remembered. She'd seen her last at the Hogwarts Board of Trustees meeting just after Dumbledore died, before Severus's appointment as headmaster. The recommendation by the board was, of course, for Minerva to take the job. It felt like a lifetime ago. Andromeda had new wrinkles around the eyes, her eyes hooded, a few strands of gray starting to show in the hair at her temples.

The ceremony finished with thunderous applause and flutes of champagne or elf-made wine floating to anyone who held out a hand with the proper amount of force. It was quite impressive magic. Minerva caught two and passed one to Andromeda. They watched as Harry was congratulated by a seemingly endless line of admirers.

"That boy does not look happy," Andromeda noted.

"A humbler Gryffindor I have never met." Minerva smiled fondly.

*

Andromeda came to tea two days after the ceremony. She didn't look any less tired as Minerva's self-pouring teapot filled their cups. "Milk and sugar?" Minerva asked kindly.

"Just the milk is fine." Minerva poured it, then pulled a flask out of her pocket and raised her eyebrows.

"What is it?"

"Bit of whiskey to loosen our tongues."

"By all means." Andromeda took her fortified tea with a nod and sipped in a way that could not be called dainty.

Minerva tried her own. Nothing special, more or less how it always tasted. She’d been making her tea this way for too many years to count. "So," she said. "How is Teddy?"

"Well enough. He cries at night—Nymphadora did, too, of course—but nothing like this. I'd like to think he misses her, but he's so young..." She took another vigorous swig of her tea and coughed. Minerva noticed the flask was far emptier than it had been.

"And you? What have you been doing with yourself?"

Andromeda let out a gusty sigh, her shoulders falling. "Narcissa sent me an owl. We haven't spoken in a decade." She didn't elaborate, and Minerva decided not to push.

Outside Minerva's sitting room, they could hear numerous footsteps and a lot of idle chatter. "First week of the term," Minerva explained, rather unnecessarily. Andromeda, after all, had been one of the board members to vote to reopen Hogwarts this year.

"You look exhausted," Andromeda said.

"I've had to arrange schedules for returning seventh years. I thought that was the Deputy Head's job, but he seems to have... _skipped town_." Minerva rolled her eyes. "I'll be replacing him as soon as possible."

"Horace?" Andromeda snorted. "When has he _ever_ been reliable?"

"When there's gold and interesting potions ingredients on offer," Minerva decided. "His salary and accommodations were not quite to his taste."

Their tea drunk, Minerva leaned against the back of the sofa. Andromeda reached over with a soft "may I?" Minerva raised an eyebrow.

Andromeda put a hand on Minerva's shoulder and began to massage the tight muscles there. Minerva leaned into her touch, surprised at how comfortable she found it.

"You and Amelia Bones were together, weren't you?"

Minerva nodded. "Thirty years." This room had very little evidence of Amelia; after she'd gotten the news of her murder, Minerva had walked around their cottage, assiduously avoiding the spot they'd found her body, and then...left.

"That's a lifetime," Andromeda murmured. "I'm glad the war is over. We've lost so much. And what was it for? We can say they died for a worthy cause, and they did. But that doesn't make going on without them any easier, does it?"

Minerva shook her head. This conversation hardly scratched the surface. It was like trying to bridge a chasm with bits of flimsy Muggle paper.

She and Andromeda sat for a while, quiet, warm, listening to the noises of Hogwarts picking itself up and trying to move forward.

They kept meeting for tea and whiskey, sometimes in Minerva's lonely quarters, sometimes in Andromeda's house. Teddy was often there, a happy, cooing backdrop. other times Harry would take him. Minerva didn't mind either way.

They'd go through old photos. "Here's Nymphadora with her first and only toy broom. She crashed it immediately, and Ted and I decided to rehome it." Andromeda watched avidly as the tiny pink haired Nymphadora tumbled the two feet she'd managed to rise, again and again. It was only a photograph. It would continue on its loop.

They'd take walks through Muggle London. Andromeda showed Minerva all the places Ted had once taken her: parks, well-known sites, little hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

They visited graveyards: where Minerva's brother was buried; where Ted and Nymphadora and Remus were buried, side by side. "I should have been kinder to him," Andromeda mused, eyeing Remus's headstone. "He was good to her, in his way, once he got his act together."

It was so natural to take each other's hands, to sit close on sofas and benches, to spend nights together because the loneliness was sometimes too hollow and raw.

It seemed so natural when Andromeda offered to comb out Minerva's hair and for Minerva to agree. Andromeda's hands were gentle as she removed each pin and let Minerva's hair come loose to tumble around her shoulders, her strokes firm enough to be almost painful. Minerva didn't mind. Amelia had done this, too.

It felt so natural to kiss. Andromeda tasted like the earthy tea and the spice of ginger newts they'd shared for dessert after they'd made dinner together.

"They would have wanted us to find someone," Andromeda said into Minerva's shoulder, as they sprawled side by side.

"I hope you're right," Minerva replied. "Wixes live long, and we have years yet."

Andromeda gave her a somewhat watery smile. "Years enough," she said. Enough for what, Minerva supposed, they would have to discover together.


End file.
